What is Reading?

Reading is defined as the ability to examine words and absorb the information within:

• The cognitive process of understanding a written linguistic message
  i.e."he enjoys reading books".

• To examine and grasp the meaning of written or printed characters, words or sentences.

We all know this. What we often fail to understand is what reading actually achieves.

Human societies were founded on the ability to speak to each other and communicate, to pass information and learn from each other. The problem with communication solely by speech is that the audience is limited to the number of people within hearing distance of the speaker at the time.

Reading and writing changed this. When something is written, it can be read..

• by a vast number of people

• at a later time

• in another place

In effect this allows us to 'speak' and others to 'listen' to our messages over both time and space.

Reading and writing are the original force multipliers, or evolution of our communications. They have become the fundamental building blocks for the development of our modern civilizations.

Force multipliers are a common term in the military and define "the effective strength of an individual using a technology to increase their ability". Each technology makes the individual a more formidable force.

e.g.: fists -> sword -> pistol -> machine-gun.

'Force multipliers' exist in far more than just combat. Examples have arisen throughout history, as our inventiveness has come into play, and we have created better ways of achieving our goals.

e.g.: walk and carry -> horse and cart -> lorry -> plane -> rocket.

This same progression exists in human communication.

• talk (one to one) -> speech (one to many) -> radio -> TV -> satellite TV

• written -> printed -> telegraph -> fax -> email / web

Such force multipliers are an evolution of our abilities, each generation is an evolved form of the previous. What you may notice that almost all force multipliers are directed outward, very few effect our inward abilities.

What this means for us...

Before the written word, the only form of mass communication was speech to a gathered audience, this audience was limited to those present at that time.

Now a writer can 'speak' to a vast audience, limited only by the publication and distribution of their writings. Potentially, with the internet, this could mean everyone, the entire human population of the world, although this would be an extreme example.

We can now read the words of any writer whenever we choose to. However, there still limitations:

• We can only read at a limited speed.

• We can only read one document at a time.

• We only have so much time

Writing has unlimited potential for distribution, but reading is limited.

However, these limitations can now be broken. We now know how to increase our reading speed, and make better use of our available time. Using the right techniques, our ability to read can evolve. Reading now has a force multiplier path:

reading -> linear reading -> visual reading

Improving our reading speed is a personal internal evolution. It makes us better at one of our own keys skills and has the potential to improve our quality of life through increased learning and saving time.

Having fun...

Just as sometimes we prefer to do something by hand rather than using automated technology, we also often simply like to read or listen at our leisure.

Speed reading techniques and RSVP systems should be seen as available tools to be used, as and when they are needed, rather than the ultimate replacement for the way we currently read.

For example - reading a report or revising for an exam should be done quickly and efficiently, but reading for leisure should be just that, an enjoyable leisurely paced activity.

In short these techniques should be used to enhance rather than replace.

Now let's move on and find out more about speed reading, what it is and what makes it work.

What is Speed Reading?

How we read

In the beginning, we are taught to read by identifying the letters of each word and creating the word. With further teaching, we slowly develop the ability to identify the word itself and so we start to read from word to word across the page and down.

During this period we create most of the reading habits that we use during later life.

When we first learn to read, we sound out each individual letter and build the word. As our reading develops, we start to recognize words directly, they become symbols in themselves.

The simple example below explains part of how we are able to read so much faster...

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by itslef but the wrod as a wlohe.

As the warped English above shows so well, we read whole words.

It is this ability to read whole words that allows us to recognize words so quickly. We only actually need a fraction of a second to read each word before moving on to the next.

This instant visual recognition of words is the reason we can all read so much faster...

How we speed read

In 1950s Evelyn Wood discovered that a hand brushed across the page drew the eyes in a much faster way than was possible with normal reading whilst it was still easy to read the words. She had discovered a way to change the method used by the eyes to view text.

When we read normally, the eyes jump from word to word in Saccadic Jumps, our still photography mode of looking at static scenes. Evelyn Wood had discovered how to use the eyes in Smooth Pursuit and increase reading speeds. Smooth Pursuit is our video camera mode, used for tracking a moving object while still being aware of the background underneath.

Every speed reading technique or lesson and all tachioscopic software have followed this example, there are differences between each course, but the basis of all speed reading remains the same, the use of Smooth Pursuit visual tracking.

Note: If we use a pointer to read, like a finger or a pen, we immediately use Smooth Pursuit ourselves and automatically increase our reading speed. The best color for the pointer tip is gold or yellow as these greatly attract the eyes.

Smooth Pursuit based methods have an inherent problem in the time it takes to develop the technique to significant speeds and the large quantity of practice required.

N.B.: If you are intending to learn a Smooth Pursuit based reading method, it is worth noting that ReallyEasyReader allows you to skip much of the time involved in practice and learning.

What factors are involved in speed reading?

Aside from eye movement, there are a number of other secondary factors that influence our reading. These factors are mostly the habits we developed when we first learnt to read.

• Sub-vocalising: we limit our reading to the fastest we can speak when we speak the words as we read

• Regression: We reduce our speed by 20% by flicking backwards over words already read

• Span: we limit ourselves to reading one word at a time, we are able to do much better than this

• Boredom: when we read too slowly and the mind wanders

• Comprehension: This depends on the text, the vocabulary and our learning

• Concentration: mostly a product of boredom

• Recall: relaxation improves memory recall

Beyond speed reading...

Rapid Serial Visual Presentation, RSVP, is a method for displaying one or more words on a screen at the same location and changing the displayed words at a controlled speed.

RSVP takes the best of both visual control systems. As we watch the changing words, our eyes stay focused on a single point, so we remove the need to make saccadic jumps and with that we remove the time lost from saccadic suppression.

It is now possible to massively increase our reading speed. Even better, our need to spend days and weeks practising has been removed.

Faster reading is now instantly available as and when we need it.